Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 659

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Rama.
Rama, or the incarnation of Vishnu under this name,
was the son of Dasaradha, King of Ayodhya or Ayodlii
He spent the first years of his
his mother was Kousalya.
\
;
jungles under the guidance of the penitent
It was there that, touching with his feet
Ahalya, who had previously been turned into stone by
a penitent's curse 3 he restored her to life and to her
original form.
Subsequently he went to the court of Janaka, King of
Mithila.
This prince, having witnessed several of his deeds
of prowess, proposed to him that he should break the bow
of Siva, which until then none of the kings of the earth
had been able to do. Rama accomplished this task with
ease, and won Sita, daughter of the King of Mithila, as the
reward of his strength and valour. Hardly had the marriage
been celebrated when Rama's father recalled him, and en-
trusted him with the reins of government.
After returning
to his paternal home he was one day practising with his
bow, and shot an arrow with such force that its twang as
life
in the
Gautama
2
.
,
abortion in a Brahmin woman
in a transport of rage,
May Rama henceforth possess no
more knowledge than the rest of men
The curse had
its effect, and from that time Rama was deprived of the
divine knowledge inherent in him.
Shortly after this
event, Kaikeyi, the fourth wife of Dasaradha, earnestly
desiring to obtain the crown for her own son, visited Rama
and implored him with the most urgent entreaties to forego
his claims.
This Rama consented to do, and after abdicat-
ing he retired once more into the jungles, accompanied by
his brother Lakshmana and his wife Sita.
One day, while Rama was afar off in the forests, Laksh-
mana cut off the ears of Surpanakha, sister of the ten-
headed giant Ravana, King of Lankah (Ceylon), who,
indignant at the insult offered to his sister, avenged him-
it left
the
bow caused an
who was
present.
uttered this curse
The husband,
:
—
'
'
!
1
3
3
Ayodhya literally means unconquerable.' Ed.
The name of the penitent is not Gautama, but Viswamitra. Ed.
It was Gautama, the husband of Ahalya, who was the penitent in
this case.
'
Ed.